| The Large Dovecote |
| II |
| Taken from Les Eglises Rupestres de Cappadoce by Guillaume de Jerphanion Librarie Orientaliste Paul Geuthner, Paris 1932 |
| translated from the French language by Steven Lowe. NOTE: This translation is a work in progress. Keep coming back to see how far I've got! |
| "Doubtless hollowed out at a more recent date, but much more important for its paintings is the church a few minutes north of Cavusin, in a crag carved in the likeness of a strong castle (1). It reveals itself to travellers by two great angels which decorate the lower wall of the narthex, [entry chamber] but which a rock-fall has made visible from the outside. It is to this which we refer when we speak simply of the "Church of Cavusin". The door, nowadays closed up, opens six or seven metres above the ground and can only be reached by ladder. The church has been converted into a dovecote, making access difficult. However, we were able to study it for two days in 1911 and one day in 1912. It was not possible to remove the timber beams, which interfered with photographic work(2). [Presumably these were used as roosts for the birds. Several photographs in Jerphanion's book show these beams - actually heavy branches - crisscrossing the interior of the church, and often obscuring parts of the murals - SL] It is composed of a rectangular structure plus a narthex. The latter, covered by a perpendicular [berceau] at the nave, was imperfectly symmetrical. The whole front portion has fallen: all that survives are the lower wall, part of the vault and the side walls. The door to the nave opens on the left. Surmounted by a protruding wall, it is partially walled in. Above is an ancient lunette window piercing the vault(3). At the left side of the narthex a small [arcosolium] probably designates a tomb. On the right, a more spacious recess(4). The nave, six metres wide and seven metres long, is covered by a vault [en berceau] of unusual height. It reaches almost ten metres up. The walls lean inwards markedly(5). No other relief ornamentation except a double stepped cornice at the bottom of the vault. Again, in accordance with usual procedure, it does not go all around the structure: it is interrupted at the base by two drum vaults. No columns to the walls, no double arches in the vault. Near the top of the nave, two carved arches in the side walls outline a sort of transept. Three apses in the rear plane. There arches are similar. The central one is much larger and higher than the others. The decoration, on a coating which is thick but adheres well, covers all the walls and vaults of the church and the narthex. In some parts of the narthex (the tympanum and the arch above the door, the columns which frame it, and around the windows, the band at the base of the vault) a linear decoration reappears applied to the rock. Above the door is a kind of cross often previously encountered in this type of decoration, notably chapel 27 of Goreme (above, p. 480, n2). In the church one sees no trace of decoration prior to these paintings. |
Footnotes 1. See Chap. 1 p.19-20 & Fig. 3, p.15 2. In 1927, the proprietor was absent from Cavusin and we were not able to re-enter the church. 3. It can be recognised by its primitive [encadrement], like the one which decorates the arch over the doorway, and the decor on the outside of the church. Perhaps the second window seen higher up is only an ancient niche carved in the wall of a high chamber (a similar [encadrement] to the other arches). It did not originally give into the church, opening it up to allow passage to pigeons has destroyed part of the paintings. |